back to Kiddy Lit

Looks like my artwork is sneaking back to children's again after a well deserved break. As I've had some success with children's magazines in the past I'm going to make another run at them starting with toddlers. Simple cute and catchy! Here is a start for, perhaps, a mag like Baby Bug.

Shame on me

Last post March 13th. What was that resolution about blogging a drawing each day. Best laid plans of........ Oh well. I need to get on with the New Brothers Foot book and after our radio interveiw today I'm somewhat inspired. Cut and paste the following......
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork/2011/05/16/stories-for-children-with-host-vs-grenier
Stay tuned.

Curly Paint mania!

And another. I've gone Curly Paint mad!!!

more curly paint

Angel's Grace. I like doing the smudgy swirly stuff but i must admit it makes me a little dizzy!

Horse portraits

Horse Portraits in Photoshop. Drawn in with my new drawing tablet and colored with some wild and wonderful tools. This is our Bashkir Curly Paint (Pinto) Angel's Grace.

Beth and john cartoon

Cartoon commissioned by Jonh and Beth Buzis. Slowly getting the hang of Photoshop to color images.VERY slowly! It seems however, the more i learn the longer i spend at the computer!!! If anyone knows how to darken the black lines once the coloring is done. Please let me know. Bet its something really simple and obvious.! LOL,Cheers R

Cartoon of Randy owner of Max Tack

Here is my commission cartoon for the endurance rider who won my gift certificate at the MRER. This is Randy Winters owner of a great tack store in Colorado called Max Tack. This was fun.

Andalusian

Baillor .....named by Chris meaning the dancer.

evil pony

My friend Chris is starting a horse - blanket cleaning and repair business. Here are my ideas for her logo!
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horsewoman with guitar

This is an image i started years ago and never finished. I found it in the basement and decided to put it back up on the easel for a second go 'round. here it is so far. Not sure where I'll go next. I wonder how long it will take for people to realize the woman's legs are that of a horse and she has a tail. I'm wondering if poop below might be appropriate! LOL
Click to enlarge.

LOGO FOR HEALING ARTS

Here is a logo for my friend Jeanette who is a practitioner in the art of healing. The sketch is hand draw and finished in Photo Shop. See i do more than just horsey stuff.

crazy rider

horse with hands riding a bike

A friend of mind saw drawings of a horse with hands riding a bike on a blog   http://horsewithhandsridingabike.blogspot.com/  and thought of me. My Mum use to say i was as awkward as a 'cow on a bike' sometimes, so maybe there's something in it  here given my love for equines. Here is my contribution. Thanks John!

action piece

New sketch. Just a small one (running out of illustration board LOL) A Little action here. Just a line drawing with color values laid down with rough Aquatelle pencils. A variety of browns and black. It's now ready to 'puddle'!

More of Max

Max is coming along nicely.Using instant coffee now i can control the intensity better and get a really textured look. Takes time though as i am building layers necessitating drying time in between the layering. Note the roan color of the one at the top which i have just started to lay down layers on. I've been trying to get that color for ages. Seems like when i wash out this one aqu telle pencil i have it shows just a hint of pink. Interesting? Hope i remember that for when i'm really trying to paint a roan!
Don't forget to click on image to make larger. Hopefully.

Max the super mule immortalized

Here is the beginning of my mule commission.This is Maximilian the super mule. I had three photos to work from and decided on a sort of collage of all three.I am about half way through and sort of wish Max was not such a dark color as i sort of like how the colors are right now. I'm almost there with the mug shot at the bottom of the frame. It was opportune that i happened to have a coffee cup left lying around where the coffee had gone really thick and intense in color. I still need to build up some layers as max is really quite a dark brown mule. I also changed some things from the rough sketch above.Two fairly major adjustments. Can you spot them?

different breeds now

Finally i seemed to be moving away from Arabians for a while and depicting other equines like this high stepping Saddlebred  above. See i still have snuck in an abstract feel on a more realistic outline. I'm enjoying this. A smallish piece too. Something else a little different for me.

Saddlebred, 8" x 10" watercolor on  board
Prints available www.cafepress.com/ronniesprints

Sketch on the drawing board with Aquatelle colors roughly laid down. Finish piece on top.

Quarter Horse for a change

Another splashy watercolor.Splashes and sploshes. That's what arts all about. For me anyway! This time straight watercolor with no other 'stuff'. It is out of a pencil not a tube though. I use aquatelles to lay down the colors them puddle around with lots of water. Fun! See the very different build and attitude of this Quarter Horse as compared to the wild eyed Arabs of previous paintings.
Quarter Horse, 14" x19", watercolor washes on board.
P.S The only safe horse is a quarter horse. You know, the one you put quarters in to make it go! LOL
Prints available via www.cafepress.com/ronniesprints

The sketch shaded with aquatelle pencils prior to the onslaught of puddling!

A quiet piece, a minimal approach

botticelli horse

See top image with enhanced shadows and softened eyes.I'm sort of happy with it. There something classical about it like the horses in

 the Rocco co era or the lady in Bottecelli's Birth of Venus with the big hair and the contra-posto stance. I still have it taped to the board so i still may work it  a tiny bit more maybe integrating the head by mellowing the bright blue behind the face.
As for the picture at the bottom,I'm having a ball with photoshop and have really solved the problem with the eyes by casting a shadow over one of them.I used Exposure under appearances to off set the colors. That's all. Cheating you say! No way. I calling using artistic ingenuity and  modern technology.
Click on images to enlarge.

painting in progress from sketch

I sort of wanted this to go the other way but i guess this is the way the pics loaded. The sketch at the bottom was done on illustration board in graphite then outlined and shadowed with blue aquattelle pencil. The brown shadow at the side is goodness knows what.Call it a sloppy photographer at work.(No it's not coffee)

Next i focused on Negative space only. The same sloppy photographer got to really slop around with Prussian blue water color washes and of course the mandatory coffee stains.Abstractly indicative of a landscape background.Hopefully!

Thirdly, i wet and spread the aquatelle (watercolor pencil) lines to create shadows. I came in around the eyes (too much) with ink wash and then decided i was having too much fun so made myself stop for the day. Got some things to rework tomorrow.

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Eyes definitely need to be quietened down a bit. Still more work to be done.

Splash

Here is the finished original of Splash. Splash because i started to get back to splashing to create movement and loosen up this which that was beginning to get tight.I've had a lot of fun photoshopping this image to create some wild effects. See the next blog for many faces of one painting thanks to computer media.
Splash, waterbased mixed media on board 16 x20
Prints available Go to www.cafepress.com/ronniesprints.com

not so grey any more

This is actually he grey horse i was working on a couple of days ago. Yeah i know i got somewhat carried away with the tail. I'm still working on it so it may be pruned next entry. As for the grey. It will be a Photoshop project. R

photoshop

Ride like you mean it Photoshop image so far. Experimenting with new tools. Would like to be able to outline the whole thing. Back to the manual.Photoshop for Dummies. Gee I can't be much of a dummy coz I can't understand it! LOL

Ride Like You Mean it

The paintings are all fine and dandy but cartooning for me is my bread and butter so to speak. Here is the line drawing for a piece commissioned by Healthy as a Horse for this year's theme RIDE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!
Still needs to be colored once approved.

work in progress

Started the sketch yesterday and added quick washes today. I used a little Aquettelle pencil on the sketch lines and shadows as well as the usually slops of watercolor mixed media. A spot of tea is in there too.

Jan 3rd work, another Arab

Not quite finished this one and don't have a name for it. Another Arabian Stallion looking all proud and snorty as of course they do! Think it could do with some splatter. Maybe not?
16" x  12" Watercolor mixed media on board.